Wednesday, May 1, 2013

THE COFFEE MUG

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The coffee mug was a
Christmas gift for my father, purchased in 1962 at a small pottery shop on
south 10th street, across from a side entrance to Jefferson Medical
College.I spotted the mug when
Gene, my roommate during our second year at Jeff, and I stopped in to browse during mid-day break in our schedule.Shopping for my dad more often than not meant a book or some
wine related accessory, and this mug caught my eye; it would make the perfect
gift to a man who drank as much coffee as he did.

Stoneware (fireware) mug made by Utestar in Austria

The truth is, I don’t
remember how he responded to the gift, because of all that was happening in our
lives at that time.While I was up
to my eyebrows with schoolwork, my father had the first of what would be a
series of crippling heart attacks; so much of that period is a medical school
dominated haze and the mug soon became distant history.As the years passed by, the mug was
proving itself to be indestructible, surviving frequent use and three household
moves.Eventually a cup and saucer
replaced the mug as my father’s “go to” vessel for his daily coffee, and the
mug was passed back to me.Again,
I don’t remember when this happened; I think I’ve been using it for at least 15
years, and maybe as long as 20 years.

The replacement

It has become important
to me – a reminder of so many periods in my life, but more importantly, it
provides an enduring and humble link to my father.I have a lot of “stuff” in my possession, but very little that
has survived over 50 years of constant use.